The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, Dirk Davis.

As seen in Booster Gold Volume 1, #9 (1986), Dirk Davis was covering a presidential visit to Metropolis as a member of the press when he got his first glimpse of Booster Gold in action. Davis knew then and there that Booster could be worth a fortune.

According to Davis in Booster Gold #2, Booster would seek him out to be his agent, presumably because of Davis' experience managing the careers of larger-than-life professional wrestlers. Within just a few months, Davis had made Booster's Goldstar, Incorporated a marketing empire, with lucrative contracts promoting Flakies breakfast cereal, Brysler Motors, Blaze Comics, and Dusk Cologne. He took steps to create a super suit for a sidekick for Booster Gold. He even attempted to get Booster his own Hollywood movie.

Unfortunately for Dirk, not all press is good press. His close association with a genuine super hero led to some unwanted attention when the 1000 kidnapped his daughter, Sarah, in an attempt to lure Booster Gold into a trap (Booster Gold #7). Things got worse when the 1000 also kidnapped Goldstar, Inc. secretary, Trixie Collins (Booster Gold #10), and forced him to turn over the access codes to the Goldstar computer mainframe (Booster Gold #11).

Booster eventually managed to defeat the 1000, but at great personal cost. The only way to repair his power suit and his health was to travel back to the future. Davis used the time while Booster was away to reorganize Goldstar, Inc. into Booster Gold International (B.G.I.) with the intention of building a multi-national corporate conglomeration the likes of LexCorp (Booster Gold #16). Booster gave Dirk a promotion from agent to C.E.O. This would prove to be a mistake.

When Earth became ground zero in the war between the Oans and Manhunters during the "Millennium" event, a Manhunter agent stole all B.G.I. assets in an effort to force Booster to joining their side (Booster Gold #24). That Manhunter agent was Dirk Davis.

The Manhunters lost "Millennium," and it would be years before Booster eventually confronted Davis over his betrayal in Extreme Justice #6 (1995). By then, Davis had lost the entire fortune on a series of terrible investments. So Booster seized control of Davis' corporation, Lightspeed Entertainment, and had Davis thrown out of the building.

Davis swore that Booster hadn't "seen the last of" him, but like so many of Davis' promises, it proved to be so much hot air.

To read creator Dan Jurgens' take on Dirk's journey from confidant to villain, click here to read my post from May 29, 2015.

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You don't have to be French to be disheartened by the collapse of Notre Dame's center spire during Monday's fire. The building means a lot to students of art and history the world over.

For over 850 years, Notre-Dame de Paris has played a significant role in French history. It has seen countless weddings and funerals. Napoleon was crowned Emperor there in 1804. Its statues and stained-glass rose windows have inspired novelists, poets, and painters. Needless to say, it has seen better days.

It doesn't take a time traveler to know that Notre Dame will rise again. Godspeed, Our Lady.

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Late last week, Newsarama.com released DC's solicitations for comics shipping in July. Sadly, there isn't any evidence that we'll be seeing much if any Booster Gold this summer.

Maybe that's for the best. I have no interest in DC's Marvel Zombies DCeased summer event series. If our hero shows up there, I'm trusting that some reliable Booster booster will let me know.

Meanwhile, I remind everyone that the Fire and Water Podcast Network continues its JLI Podcast series. This weekend, they covered Justice League International #25, which could just as easily be called "Blue and Gold meet Dracula." We looked at the color guide to that issue just a few months ago.

You'll find links to listen to the JLI Podcast (and others) at FireAndWaterPodcast.com.

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